Twilight skies
by Kitsune Foxfire
Summary: A series of One-shots, meetings between Ash and Reborn, plus others. See inside for details.
1. A hitman's Mardi Gras

**Kitsune Foxfire here with your usual disclaimers and whatnot. I'll start out with the disclaimers. I own neither Dark Hunters nor Hitman Reborn. They're owned by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Akira Amano. Both women deserve praise and you should go out and buy their works if you can. I will fess up to a hyper active imagination and random thoughts that lead to crack like this story. So now to explain the story.**

**This is a series of one-shots. Each chapter stands alone and will feature at least one person from both Dark-Hunters and Hitman Reborn. As of right now I have 3 1/2 of these written. They are to give you background into a short-story crossover of Hitman/Dark-Hunter I've got. You don't NEED to read either story to get the other. Each one-shot chap will include a blurp about who/why if people indicate they'd like that. The last thing is the character 'Reborn', since he is in this story before he turns into an arcobaleno I had to come up with a new name, and I thought with his ego, I'd go with "Bravo".**

* * *

"Tell me again why I agreed to do this, Jaden?"

"Because you love your Simi, and for some strange reason, you object to her giving me her soul for a new 'sparkly necklace' as she put it." Jaden chuckled as he watched his long time, well he guessed they were friends of a sort fidget with his tie. The two of them were in Ash's Great Hall while the Atlantian god got ready to play tour guide to some upstart young Maffia bratling. A job Jaden had been asked to find someone for through a series of deals that actually enabled a group humans to come out on top. The demon dealer was actually impressed, despite himself. Didn't mean he was planning on going himself. Hell, he was still busy trying to figure out exactly how they'd gotten in touch with him in the first place.

That's where Simi came in. Someone had shown her a picture of a particularly nice diamond choker, and the little Charonte demon just _had_ to have it. Next thing he knew she was tugging at his tree going on about barbecue sauce and sparkiles. Now, Jaden had promised Archeron he'd let the other know before giving Simi _anything_. He loved a good fight, but for Simi, Ash would gladly go God of Destruction on his ass, and that was a bit more fun then he was willing to have. Except, he usually gave into Simi. So, when Simi had told Ash that if her Akri did this one little thing, Jaden would get her _two_ nice sparkiles the man caved. After a lot of posturing and threats on both sides, that is.

"Sometimes I hate you, man."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It'll be easy. You're getting these things for a steal, you know. All you have to do is keep the brat out of trouble with any demons, Apollites , or Daimon. I doubt you'll even see anything anyway. He'll have bodyguards for the rest. It's not even like you won't know the area. The kid's going to be in New Orleans for some summit or some shit."

The dark haired Atlantean stopped preening in front of the mirror and turned to look at Jaden, silver eyes disbelieving, "A summit. For the Mafia. In New Orleans. We are talking Mafia as in the Mob, right? Al Capone?"

"Well, more global than that." Jaden shrugged. "Those humans, they amaze me sometimes. I never realized how big this Mafioso stuff was before they contacted me."

"Alright. A Mafia summit. Why New Orleans? Wouldn't, I don't know, New York, make more sense?"

"Oh, You'll love this. Apparently the brat wanted to see Mardi Gras or something." Jaden shook his head, "And so they moved the whole thing to New Orleans just for him. Can you believe it? And he's not even one of the Bosses, just some Boss's brat." He glanced at his watch, "Wow, look at the time. You better go, or you'll be late, can't have the baby-sitter late, now can we."

"Fuck you." Archeron muttered, teleporting himself to the appropriate hotel's lobby. Hotel Monteleone was well known, if a bit too rich for his taste. Then again, he preferred more informal locations. Still, he could see why the place would appeal to people with human clout. Luckily, it was still early and there were no daimons about. With a heavy sigh he adjusted his tie again and shifted in his suit. He never found them comfortable, no matter how well cut they were. Finally he could stall no longer, and walked over to the front desk.

"Hi, I'm supposed to meet a signora Daniela." He ignored the pricking on the back of his neck as at least five pairs of eyes fixed on him from spots around the room. "Jaden sent me."

The young woman, little more then a girl really, behind the desk just smiled as she placed a call. Ash was relatively sure she was armed, not the usual for the employees at this particular hotel. Hell, the wait-staff was all men, except for the maids. She was definitely someone brought in just for the occasion, but she did her job effectively, and in moments the elevator opened. A woman with hair that was more blue then black and and a flower tattoo on her face stepped out. She seemed to be arguing with a young teen who bore a striking resemblance to her in Italian. He assumed the boy was her son, and the kid he was supposed to watch. As they came near, he had to say he wasn't overly impressed with what he saw. The boy was around fifteen and obviously his mother's little darling.

"Bonjourno, I am Daniela, Vongola's Eighth leader, It's a pleasure, signore...?"

"Archeron. Just call me Ash, though." He offered his hand, which she took with a smile.

"I see. Ash, then. Normally I'd extend the courtesy, but with the conference...please forgive me, but call me Vongola for now."

"I understand completely." Appearances were everything to people like her, not that he could blame her, being a Mafia boss was the kind of job where you really had to watch how things looked.

"Oh, and this is my son," She pushed the obviously pouting youth forward, "Timoteo."

"This is ridiculous, mother. First you move the conference on a whim without telling me, and now you won't even let me enjoy it. For the last time, _I don't __need a babysitter!_ Nougat and Visconti are here with me, we'll be fine on our own. We'll even take Bravo with us. I would think anyone would think twice before taking on the Vongola's son when he's surrounded by _three of the best_ young hitman out there. Not to mention I'm no slouch myself you know!"

"Tim, hush. You know I moved the summit so you could go to this party you were talking about. Think of it as an early birthday present." She cuffed him on the back of the head, harder than necessary. Honestly, Ash was on the kids side on this, but a deal was a deal, and there were daimons to think of. Not to mention the occasional rogue were that might wander out of the bayou who might want to have fun with the young upstart. "Forgive my son. He doesn't quite yet understand that when on strange lands there may be enemies you...aren't prepared for." _Aren't__ prepared for my ass, woman. _The look she gave him told Ash that she knew exactly what kind of not-human nasties might come after her son. What he wanted to know was how she found out. She grinned ruefully, "He's probably right, though. So, after a quick round of 'this is my son and heir, got a problem with that, you bastards?' I'll cut the brat-pack loose. You might get one or two other tag a-longs every now and then. Anyway, it's just for a few days, really."

"Well, it won't be the first time I played tour guide for out of towners, and I know it won't be the last." Ash put on a smile, though inwardly he was promising death to Jaden. He wondered idly if he could foist the brat and his group off on Val, Kyrian, or even Talon...but no, they were only active at night, unfortunately, which left the squires, and somehow, he got the feeling that this would require hazard pay.

The teen glared at him. "Yeah, whatever, Ash was it?"

"Timoteo!" His lip earned him another cuff on the back of the head.

"Boss, the meeting..." the man who'd been following the two spoke up.

Daniela sighed, apparently annoyed, "Well, please, make yourself comfortable, and I'll send the _boys_ down in a bit. Oh, try the cafe while you wait, I believe they have a special menu for this event.. Put it all on my tab, of course." She smiled as she headed towards the elevator with her son and the silent bodyguard.

Within moments they were flanked by six other men, explaining the feeling of being watched he'd felt. He was vaguely impressed in spite of himself as he watched them get on the elevator. Soon it was just him and the hostess-who-was-not-a-hostess left in the lobby. "So...they do that often?"

She smirked at him, purple eyes dancing with amusement, "You mean the whole 'We're so bad-ass' group walk? All the time. A lot of the Bosses elite forces are like that, but the Vongola wrote the book. If I were you, I'd get over to the Cafe and eat up. It's going to be a while before Da...I mean Vongola can cut her boy and his friends loose, but once she does, they're going to run you into the ground."

Ash raised an eyebrow over his expensive sunglasses, "Oh?" his tone conveyed his opinion of that happening.

"No, really, he's been talking of nothing else for months now." The young woman seemed to hesitate, looking around to see if anyone was there before continuing, "I know you probably don't care, but Tim's a good kid, really." She shook her head, "Well, when he's not being a real pain in the ass. Today he was being a little prick. But he is used to handling just about anything on his own...or he thinks he is."

Ash got the feeling that this young woman spent a good amount of time teaching him exactly what he was capable of. "So, basically he's starting to realize how pampered he's been?"

"I wouldn't say pampered exactly, but yeah." She rolled her eyes, "He's such a...boy sometimes."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Now, you were saying something about the cafe?"

"Oh, yes, right through those doors. It's quite an impressive menu, so be sure to run up the Vongola's tab!" She called after him. Ash could feel her longing after the desserts and made a note to send her out the most expensive thing on it.

Of course, he was a little shocked to see it was a single slice of cake for $300. "Wow, that's gotta be some cake." He muttered as the waiter took his order for the cake and his own order of fine wine. Some of the items on the menu almost made him wish he was willing to eat, if only for the novelty of the names. As the young woman at the desk predicted it was a little over an hour before Timoteo strolled in and sat across from him with a big sigh, resting his head in his hands. He was quickly flanked by two other teens. One of the teens had longer, silver-blond hair, and glared at Ash as if daring him to say anything. The other teen had greased dark chestnut brown hair and a lazy look about him that Atlantean god was sure was a complete sham. Neither of the other two sat, instead standing with a stiff formality. "Are you ready to go then?"

Timoteo blinked at him, apparently surprised by the question before a look of understanding crossed his face, followed by friendly annoyance, "No, we're waiting for another friend. Ignore the idiots. I've learned to." He pointed over his shoulder without even looking at the brunette, "Archeron, this is Visconti Launen, and the other charmer here is Nougat Coyote." He pointed at the glaring teen, "Sit down you two, this is embarrassing." He sighed as neither moved, "Both of them are my best friends, which of course means they don't listen to a word I say."

"Ninth, we're acting as your body guards..." started Nougat, glaring at Ash.

Ash sipped his drink, "Ninth?"

Tim waved him off, turning half over his chair to glare at his friend, "Damnit, Nougat, I said sit. We are going to have fun as _friends_ I don't give a crap what Mother says about expecting an attack at anytime. I refuse to live my life in fear, so quit acting like a bodyguard every time we hang out. Visconti, don't think I don't know you put him up to this, either," the other looked sheepish, "A week on the town, as _friends_, alright?"

"So long as you three don't blow anything up..." a voice said from the door. A young man, probably a year or so younger than the three in front of him strolled casually into the room. He, like the others, was dressed formally in a suit and tie, the only difference being the black and orange fedora covering a head of spiked black hair. "Chaos."

Tim's face lit up, and he waved, "Bravo! What kept you?"

"B-blow stuff up? WHY YOU LITTLE!" snarled Nougat.

"I'm not the one who blew up the summer villa last month." Bravo smirked, kicking two chairs up against the back of Visconti's and Nougat's knees, causing them to sit.

Visconti laughed, "What, he's got us there," he pointed out to the others when they both glared at him.

"Ah, Bravo, this is..."

"Archeron, right? Lal says thanks for the cake." Bravo nodded to Ash, taking a seat next to his friend.

"This is the friend I was waiting for, Bravo Hitman. Well, we're ready whenever you are, but don't let us rush you." Timoteo smiled sweetly as all three boys leaned in and watched the leader of the Dark-Hunters intently.

He was used to people staring at him, thanks to his aunt's curse. Ash found it slightly odd, however, that the group of youths that stared at him like pack of hunting dog puppies about to be turned loose didn't have _that_ look in their eyes. No, the look they gave him was one that coolly calculated him as a fighter first, and found him adequate. _Then_ they eyed him like stake. It was an odd feeling, since he wasn't quite sure if the Yummy-look was because they found him attractive so much as they wanted to fight him. Actually, The atlantean suspected he could look like Zack used to before he became a Dark Hunter and they'd still give him that look if they thought they'd get a good fight out of him._ Come to think of it, all the Mafioso in the lobby gave me a similar look. How odd. _Finally he couldn't take it anymore."Alright then. Where would you like to go first?"

The boys lit up, "There's that pastry shop near here, isn't there?"

"Pastry? Oh you mean Café du Monde, don't you? Yeah, it's just a few blocks away."

"Oh, but you've just eaten..."

Archeron laughed, "Don't worry about it, kid. I'm here to play tour-guide, remember? Besides, you know it'd be criminal for you to miss out on their beignets. Let's get going, it might be a bit of a wait, what with Mardi gras tomorrow and everything."

_***&*&*BREAK TIME SKIP*&*&***_

The boys absolutely loved Mardi Gras, including the hard to read Bravo, who Ash found to be one of those rare people he couldn't 'read'. The rest week flew by, and much to Archeron's surprise, he found himself enjoying his time with the brash group of mafia teens. Each morning he met them at Cafe du Monde, where the four youths would alternate between flirting with their waitress and eating anything put in front of them. One of them was always subtly watching the crowds, and more than once, as predicted, they were joined by some slightly older Maffioso. Tim was obviously the leader, no matter who joined them for their meal. The interlopers rarely stayed long, however, usually long enough to trade some gossip (The Chinese were NOT happy with some new deal the Americans had cut, Archeron was told by a fellow named Fong.) Once, he'd asked about women in the Mafia, it seemed odd to him, given the way humans seemed to view their women in this day and age. The boys looked at him oddly and Bravo had dared him to tell Lal that. She apparently wasn't strictly Mafia, but worked for the Italian government in a COMADO type unit. He felt very out of the loop, which was an odd feeling that he found both enjoyable and annoying at the same time.

After breakfast, they wandered all over the town. Visconti fell in love with the french quarter, and when Archeron brought them to Sanctuary to give them a feel of the local scene, Nougat was right at home, slinging good-natured insults with the quads over the pool table. Tim was a bit of a pool-shark, and Papa bear quickly learned not to bet against the humans at pool. Only twice did they get into any real trouble, and both were clearly the boy's fault. The first was when they stopped a mugging, which the immortal found vaguely odd and out of character, given who they were.

"The Vongola Family," Visconti explained as his friend and future boss made sure the couple was alright and gave them some money the teen had won at pool the night before for a ride home, "was originally started to protect people." He gave a lazy smile and pointed to Bravo, "Lofty ideals, I know, but that's what Bravo always says. He's really looked into it. Said it started to protect the original Boss's Family and loved ones, and then kind of grew. Now, yeah, we do all sorts of shady stuff, but at heart we try and help people." It made sense when you put it that way. Archeron knew that the bigger the group of people you were protecting, the more support you'd need for that. Just look at the Dark Hunters and Squires, and they were backed by a god. He had to remember to look into the Vongola family later.

The second time was on the last night. They were leaving Sanctuary, and it was definitely closer to dawn than dusk. Dev had waved him over to talk about something and he'd lost sight of the teens for only a moment when he'd heard a gunshot. He went running, the bear on his heels. Luckily there was no one on the streets that late at night and the boys were easy to spot. Then again, a group of teens being attacked by a swarm of Daimons generally was easy to hear, if nothing else. The amazing thing that drew the were-hunter and god up short was the fact that the Mafia group was holding their own, if not exactly winning. Strange bursts of multi-colored lights flashed from the youths weapons, and when the lights connected with the daimons the soul-suckers would cry out in pain and fall back to circle the group wearily. The strange taboo was broken when one of them spotted Devi and Archeron and they redoubled their attack. The conversation afterwards had been quite...interesting...to say the least.

Ash still didn't know what to make of their tale of 'deathperation flames' and sky guardians. He'd never heard of such a thing before, but the world was a big place. When he tried to use his powers to find out more, he got nothing, making him weary. Still, he saw nothing inherently bad with these slightly foolish mafia youths. Looking into their future revealed lives full of hardship and struggles, but at the same time they'd accomplish great things. He'd see what he could dig up on these flames the old fashioned way. It had been a while since he'd last bugged Savitar, and the surfer _did_ owe him one for showing Simi that necklace. In the end, Archeron decided not to kill Jaden after all. It had been a very educational and entertaining week for him. Plus, Simi had gotten those new diamonds she'd wanted, so it was win-win as far as he was concerned.


	2. Mafia movie night

_**Kitsune here with the second Oneshot. This was the 1/2 chap I had done, and this week really sucked, so I just finished it now. It's got Ash, Sin, Simi (a little) Reborn/Bravo and Colonello. See if you can guess the year. I was informed that my questions to my readers was missed so we will have two! **_

_**1) When writing a story, be it Fanfiction or not, do you research? I Do! This one-shot series AND the following full story involves a lot of research because of the dates involved, and the tech. I know NOTHING about guns. (but now I can tell you what year a bunch of them were invented) So, I did have to adjust my timeline for the story accordingly. I have spent more time looking shit up then typing!**_

_**2) Have you ever been looking stuff up and thought "Wow, if BIG BROTHER (the government, or some agency) saw me looking at this, it might not look so good"? My friend had a real bad gov't scare last month, so this has been on my mind, because naturally, I kinda figure they've at least glanced at his friends. And here I am, looking up assault riffles and mafia things. And then I thought about all the other random shit I've looked up...maybe I'll just show them my wall of anime? Will that explain it or make it worse I wonder.**_

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Acheron was torn between laughing at Sin, or possibly pounding the former god into the ground for wasting his time. They were going to be late, and damn it, he did not want to miss this stupid movie. Yeah, he was a God, and he could always skip ahead a bit and watch it when the theater wasn't going to be swamped with crazy people. But this was different, and it wasn't because Simi told him that she really wanted to see it. Sin was normally stationed in Las Vegas, and because of Artemis pulling one of her stunts New York had been down a man for a while. Ash had not been about to pass up on the opportunity.

"If we're late because you're too busy gawking at the sights like some hick, I'll leave you out to see the sunrise, I swear." Ash threatened, only half serious.

"It's New York, man! The last time I was here, the roads were still cobblestone and covered in shit. I'm allowed to gawk." The other scoffed, "We can always catch the next show, anyway."

"I got our tickets already, you know." The Atlantean leader of the Dark-Hunters pointed out. 'and we're meeting up with some people...' he thought to himself, wondering if the others would show. "You're from 'the city of lights'. You can't be that impressed."

"Yeah? Whatever. I bet this movie's going to be nothing like real gangsters. Capone, now that was a gangster. Even Daemons were scared of him. Man knew how to throw a party, though, I'll give him that." Sin smirked, "New York's got nothing on my city for Mafia shit."

"Everyone's been saying 'The Godfather' is a fantastic movie," he began as he noticed some people tailing them. "And Simi's dieing to see it. I figured out of all the others, you'd have the most appreciation for a good mafia flick."

Sin's eyes cut to the side, he'd noticed the group of punks, too. Looked to be normal humans. Too bad for them. "Yeah, that's what you said about 'Oceans 11' and the 'Itialian Job', you dick. I felt cheated."

"They weren't that bad." Archeron chuckled,though he had to admit, they really had painted a blazie picture of what he knew the Mafia to be. Not that he was going to tell Sin that...

"Where do you two think you're going?" One of the punks blocked their way, "You're walking on our street. You gotta pay the toll, man."

Sin spat, "Shit. See? This is why I hate these movies." He turned to Archeron, completely ignoring the rough looking man in front of him, "It gives people ideas, Ash. And then they think it's alright to just mug people walking down the street..."

"I said give me your wallet, man!" The punk pulled a knife, as did the surrounding members of his gang.

"And then we have to beat them up."

Archeron rolled his eyes behind his shades, "You know, we're supposed to protect humans, not beat them up."

"These lowlifes?" Sin laughed, "I'm teaching them a valuable lesson about picking on people stronger than you, so it is protection."

Ash laughed, "Try not to break them too badly then, alright, Sin? Let's make this fast, We're really going to be late at this rate." He ducked under the arm of one punk, twisting it causing the man to drop his weapon before kneeing him in the gut. "Dark-Hunter's getting mugged in this day and age." He tsked.

"We are not telling the Squires." Sin snarled, headbutting his opponent into submission. "They're already a bunch of mother hens."

"Maybe if you stopped coming home covered in blood your squire would stop worrying." The other pointed out calmly as he laid another opponent low.

Both men froze as they heard a click. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! Who brings a gun to a knife fight?" Sin snarled, "These guys are bad as gallou demons, Ash..." his dark eyes snapping, Sin walked right up to the man holding the gun, "You piece of trash, drop the gun before I make you."

Shaking the man raised his gun to point right at Sin's head, "Maggots. You're in the way. Move." before doing a faceplant. Both Dark-hunters stood there, mouths actually open, staring. Standing with his booted foot still up in the air was a tall blonde dressed in green army fatigues with a matching headband and a tall case on his shoulder. His eyes were closed as he sighed, "Ahhhh, looks like I stepped on a bug, Maggot."

"WHO are you calling a Maggot! You shit! I'm going to fucking kill you!" The man on the ground pointed his gun at the stranger, shocking Archeron into movement. Before he could reach the man the blonde kicked away the gun, his eyes still closed.

Opening his vibrant blue eyes he glared at the man on the ground. "Maggot, you call that pea-shooter a gun? THIS is a gun," He snapped open the case one handed, revealing a "M40A1 riffle, with this baby I could have killed you before you had even started of following these guys, Maggot." He snapped the case closed and glared at the man, "If there's a scuff on my boots, Lal'll have my head, Maggot. Clean it." The punk scrubbed the boot shaking, "Name's Colonello." He grinned at Ash and Sin, casually kicking the punk away, "Scram, maggot. Come on, you two. We're gonna be late at this rate."

"Uh..." Sin blinked at the guy standing in front of him. Colonello was cocky and brash, basically he was a lot like most of the people Sin hung out with, be he sure as hell didn't know this kid. "Thanks for the assist, but..."

The blond grabbed both of their wrists and started to drag them. He was surprisingly strong for his size, "Keep fighting me and I'll carry you! I've waited all week to see this damn movie, and Bravo will definitely shoot at least one of us if we make him miss even one second of it!" He shot them a look over their shoulders, "Unless I've got the wrong 'scary-vibe guys. One with long hair and shades on at night.' Archeron and Sin, right?" Sin nodded still confused while Ash grinned, pulling his wrist out of Colonello's grasp with ease. The guy took it in stride, dropping Sin's wrist as he continued talking, "Bravo would have come himself when he realized you were running a bit late, but he got a bit held up at the theater. Nothing too big, just the locals trying to suck up to either him or the Vongola, the maggots."

"Can't say I'm surprised. Bravo is anything but subtle about his ties." Archeron easily laughed, "are you a part of the Vongola as well?"

"Me? Hell no, Maggot!" he looked vaguely offended, "I'm with COMSUBIN under Lal Mirch. Woman's been a total bitch recently, though! Sent me on this crappy mission with Mr. Hitman and tells me to 'play nice' like I'm the one who starts the fight usually. So I like testing Bravo's reflexes a bit..."

"You keep testing those reflexes, and you're going to be eating a bullet for breakfast." came the calm response from a fedora wearing man dressed impeccably in a suit.

"I take it you're Bravo?" Sin growled.

Bravo grinned, "Chaos. Nice to meet you, Sin from 'sin city'. The Mafioso speak well of you, for the most part." He nodded to Ash, "Long time. Simi joining us this evening?"

Sin was officially weirded out. Not only did these guys know who he was, they knew about Simi. He KNEW they were not a part of the Squires, Dark-Hunters, or anything else he was used to dealing with. "Ash...who the hell are these jokers?"

"Friends, of a sort." came his leader's cryptic response. He made a sound of annoyance and glared at the other god who sighed, "Let me call Simi out and I'll try and explain, if that's alright with everyone." Both of the strangers shrugged, apparently not caring. Casually, they turned sideways, offering a subtle guard and shield as the atlandian called forth his Charonte from her usual place on his skin. "Hey, Simi. Ready for the movie?"

"Arki!" The happy little demon-child hugged her 'father' gleefully, looking like a completely normal human preteen and not a demon who'd happily eat anything in sight. "Arki, can Simi have lots of popcorn and yummy stuff to eat at the movie?"

Ash smiled indulgently down at his daughter, "Of course, Simi."

"Ah, that's why you told the vendor to make all the popcorn they had." Colonello said to his friend, eyeing the grunge-dressed demon with appreciation, "just don't eat my gun, kiddo, and we'll get along fine. I just got this baby."

"Hey, it's Bravo, Arki! Is he gonna watch the movie with all us? Cauz, he fun people."

"Yes, Simi, they're here to see the movie, too. Now, why don't you go get your popcorn and candy?" He handed her his wallet, causing the girl to squeal and take off into the theater. With a chuckle he watched her go before turning to his fellow god, "Sin, meet Bravo Hitman and Colonello. Bravo here works for the Vongola mafia family in Italy as one of their top hitmen."

Sin blinked at him for a second, "Wait. Vongola-Vongola. Like, as in one of THE top familla of the world? And this guy's a hitman?" He glared at his friend, "What have you been smoking?"

"It's true."

"Acheron, the Vongola do NOT mess around. I don't know what this kid's been telling you, but you don't go impersonating members. It's an instant hit on you if you do. Seriously, there was this little mob family a few years back, total SOB lead them...anyway, it wasn't pretty. This guys a dead man walking for even joking about that stuff."

"Actually, that wasn't the Vongola who took care of that little problem." Bravo pointed out, drawing attention back to himself, "That was Fon. At the time it was a hit taken out by the Chinese, as a gift to the Vongola. Fon, who's a friend of the next leader of our Famila and myself decided to take it."

"Ah! I remember that!" Colonello laughed, "Fon brought back souvenirs and a whole bunch of stories. Apparently he really has a knack for crapps. Kinda went poorly for the Chinese though, turned out they had been sponsoring that little piece of shit, and Fon was a bit vocal about it. That guy is really into the whole honor thing." He pointed to Sin, "So then, this is the 'Demon-slaying soulless one of the night' who is good company at a bar, right? That's how you knew about him, Bravo, you cheater."

"That's how I roll." The other shrugged, "But really, Tim wanted to recruit this guy until he learned he was with Ash. He's got this strict 'Leave the Dark-Hunter Familia alone' rule."

"That sucks."

"Personally, I think it's a great rule." Growled out Ash, "NO recruiting my Hunters, OR the Squires, Bravo. I've told you before." The other just smirked at him. "So there you have it, Sin. Bonafide Maffia from Italy."

"Hey!"

"Colonello, shut up. You and Lal are just in COMSUBIN until your time there is up and you know it."

Acheron ignored the squabbling as the four of them entered the theater, "And before you ask how I met them, let's just say it's the last time I take a babysitting job from Jaden." He smirked at Sin's expression. The god was totally thrown for a loop and had yet to find his groove again. BUt Ash was sure by the time the movie started the five of them would all be heckling each other and swapping (graphic) stories. This movie was going to be good, even if The Godfather turned out to be a bad mob flick.


	3. A Drunken Hitman

_**Kitsune here with the next chapter-one-shot. THis one has a picture I drew, too. But I refuse to use that image **_**_upload-er. Also, it's only line art, so...it's on my DeviantArt account if you really wanna see it, I think. Ash and Reborn/Bravo. Kinda angsty and Reborn is OOC, but he's drunk, so there. The lions are not actually in the Dark-hunter series, so I made them up._**

**_Question of the chapter: What do you think of the new Image manager?_**

* * *

_**New Orleans**_

Ash couldn't help but laugh as Simi finished off another bowl of hot-sauce covered ice cream with a side of ribs. It had been a slow week, and he'd told Kyrian he'd meet him at Sanctuary later. Nothing wring with spending the day there and letting Simi eat her fill first, though. He still had nightmares about that VW wagon she'd tried to eat last year because 'it smelled like tacos'.

Yeah.

Better not risk a Simi attack in the middle of a crowded city full of people who smelled interesting to say the least, thanks to their permanent case of the munchies, or general belief that soap was optional. Come to think of it, Archeron was getting really sick of saving some human and getting "Dude...was that, like, a vampire...or something? Far out m~an..." Maybe after tonight he'd pop over to Europe or something for a few years. From what the Dark Hunter's had told him, the Americas were by far the worst for the druggy remnants of the Hippy movement. Unfortunately, that made them the easiest target for the Daemons, too.

He went back to hammering together a chair that had fallen apart. Just because he was there to feed Simi didn't mean Mama Lo wasn't going to take advantage of another set of hands, though. He smiled at the thought of an all powerful god being bossed around by the powerhouse of the Peltier clan. His image with his men would forever be ruined by the hot pink scrunchy Aimee had laughingly given him when he'd hammered his thumb for the fourth time. It did keep his long black and green locks out of the way at least. "Ash? Yo, Earth to Ash!"" Cody Peltier waved from the kitchen hall, obviously agitated. Rolling his eyes at Cody's exaggerated gestures the Atlantean made sure to check that Simi would be all right on her own for a while before seeing what had the bear's fur in a twist. Smirking, he snagged a beer from behind the bar on his way over, getting a chuckle out of Devi.

"Yes, Cody?" He opened the bottle with practiced ease and took a long swig.

The young Arcadian huffed, "Aimee says you've got a phone call. Long distance. Said you should probably take it, since it was from the Lion's den in Italy."

Ash handed Cody his beer, frowning as he pushed past the man into the back and headed towards the office. He knew Aimee would be there waiting, hopefully with more information. It had been a year or so since he'd spoken with the any of the Litarian in Italy. The Leone family ran a sanctuary much like the Peltier's did. It was just highly unusual for them to call, even if they were looking for him. After all, they were Arcadian, and as far as the rest of the world knew, the Peltier's were all Katagaria. It was understandable that it would make Aimee and Cody nervous. Hell, Ash knew the Litarian's and he was nervous. In moments he was knocking on the office door.

"Come in," Nicolette called, "I sent Aimee away, she worked herself right up." The matriarch explained to his raised eyebrow, "Now, I got that man Patrice on hold. He's going about it being an emergency and you needing to clean up your own mess." She humphed, "Not that I don't understand where he's coming from, but make it quick, will you, cher? I don't want word getting out that we've _talked_ you know." She huffed again, the picture of an annoyed mamma bear as she headed towards the door, "I'll be back in five. Aimee will watch Simi while you're gone. Don't you worry about Kyrian either. He's a big boy, I'm sure he'll understand if you're not back in time. Just be a dear and bring back some fresh olives." She said, shutting the door.

Ash just stood there for a second, slightly bemused at how Nicolette seemed to know everything without being omnipotent. He figured it had something to do with the brood of children she had. Shaking his head ruefully at her manipulations (he was sure Kyrian was going to be waiting tables tonight if he wasn't back) he picked up the phone. "Ash here."

"Ciao! Ash! I was afraid for a moment you were Nicolette again to tell me off for scaring Aimee." Ash could hear a gunshot followed by laughter, then the phone was jostled, "That's not funny! Stop that! Oh! You! Stop him. I Don't care how, just stop him before he wrecks the place." Patrice started to mutter darkly in Italian under his breath.

"Everything alright?"

"No. It's your fault, too."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Archeron grinned into the phone, "Well, tell me what I did, and I'll see what I can do to fix it."

"You introduced a bunch of crazy Mafioso hitman to the Lion's Den. That's what!" the were-hunter snapped, not finding the other man amusing in the slightest, "And now I've got one taking pot-shots at anyone who so much as looks at the door!"

"Inside or out?"

"Huh?"

Ash sighed, "Is he inside or outside the place?"

"Oh. I don't know. Every time I turn around, he's somewhere else! It's like trying to herd kittens. Do you have _any_ idea how hard that is?" There was a pause, "Inside right now. Cici brought him down from the roof. How did he get onto the roof, pray-tell?"

He started to laugh, "I'll be there in a few. Just tell Colonnello to hang tight or you'll sic Lal Mirch and Bravo Hitman on him."

"What are you talking about, Atlantean? It's not that blonde idiot. I wish it was! I could deal with him. It's that dark one, Bravo, or whatever he calls himself. Hurry up, will ya? If this keeps up, someone's going to end up dead, and I honestly don't know who at this point." with that the obviously frustrated Italian lion hung up the phone.

Ash wasted no time teleporting himself few blocks away from The Lion's Den. Bravo causing trouble was highly unusual. He wasn't the type to use his impressive skills to terrorize people just for the hell of it. Something must have happened in the last few years since he had seen the young hitman that either drastically changed that, or he was laying a trap. As Archeron got onto his motorcycle, pulling on a helmet, he desperately hoped it was the latter and not the former. He wished he could have 'ported right into the club, but with the place full of twitchy were-hunters and an apparently trigger-happy hitman it was better to come in the front door, unfortunately with all the alert Mafia families, that meant NOT appearing right AT the door. Luckily, Ash's driving was daring enough to get him there in a matter of moments. By the time Nicolette was walking back into her office, Ash was dropping the kickstand on his bike and heading for the door.

Taking a deep breath and preparing his best 'people wrangling' skills, he opened the door while unclasping his helmet. He froze in actual shock as a bullet when whizzing by his head, grazing the helmet before he even took it off. Ash stared hard at the black fedora, refusing to look at the gun pointed over the shoulder. "You bastard. You're supposed to look where you're shooting. Isn't that what you told me?"

The black clad figure nodded and there was a clink of ice as he put his glass down. Patrice was standing right in front of Bravo, glaring at Archeron. _Really, is THAT what you say? _He mentally snarled at the ancient god, visibly bristling.

Taking off his helmet, Ash grinned, _Well, yeah. It's not like he's going to hit me, you know._ Even he wasn't sure if he meant that his friend wouldn't actually try and hit him, or he would be to fast to hit. It was obvious by the look on the other's face that he'd noticed, and wisely chose not to call Ash on it.

The Were-lion snarled silently at him, _Suit yourself._ "Your friend is here, I am going into the back. You have frightened the staff, so do not wander. If you need something, shout." _I am not kidding, my mate is threatening to eat this one._ The man warned before walking into the back.

As soon as the man left Bravo spun around on his chair, legs crossed, drink in one hand and gun lightly held in the other. His black eyes were focused with a strange intensity on his glass. Worried, Ash wished he could read Bravo just once. While his inability to know what the other was thinking was one of the things that had made them friends, it made things difficult when the other was close-lipped. After what seemed like an eternity, but what was really only a few seconds the hitman looked up. His eyes danced with merriment, but his usual smirk was gone. In fact, it was the complete opposite of the expression he usually wore, and the change was creepy as hell.

His lip twitched. Ash raised an eyebrow, and he snorted. It was then the Atlantean noticed the flush across the pale cheeks. Glancing around the room he saw a mostly empty bottle of scotch within arms reach of the man, as well as the many bullet holes in the walls. He also spotted the little panther chameleon pet that was the hitman's constant companion as it vanished behind the register. Ash was glad someone hadn't eaten it, stupid thing probably would have caused an incident with the whole of the Vongola if they had. Finally his eyes found Bravo's again. "Chaos..." The hitman smirked as he said his usual greeting. Silver locked with black for a split second before the much younger man spun away laughing. "Ha...hahaha...You...Look like a girl!"

"Oh?" Archeron grinned at the shaking shoulders, taking down his long black and green hair from the scrunchy he'd borrowed from Aimee and shooting it at the back of his friends head in retaliation. Normally, getting laughed at wasn't the reaction he got from people. "You're drunk, aren't you?" Not even other men, no matter how drunk they were. It would hurt his ego if it wasn't for the fact that it was funny to see his always sober friend drunk as a skunk. Bravo, of course, dodged the pink scrunchy. He snagged a stool next to Bravo, amused to see that the other still wouldn't look at him. "How much did you drink?" he half gripped, dropping his bag. Something told him he was going to be there a while.

The other just waved him off, still laughing, "Eh. enough. Not enough. Who knows?" He snorted into his drink, obviously trying to act sober and failing. He eyed his friend to see if the other noticed and they shared a look before both laughed.

'_Who knew he'd be such a happy drunk?_' mused Ash, "So, mind if I ask _why _you were shooting at the lions? I thought big game hunting wasn't your thing."

"But these lions can shoot back. Much more fun! BANG!" The man swung his glass, spilling some of the drink. "Oops. No. no...I'm ok. S'right...Really. Um." He grinned, obviously trying to order his thoughts, "Seemed like a good idea. Couldn't reach you. Tried all month, and today's the last day, ya know? Vongola couldn't find you, so I came here. Left a message every day."

Acheron frowned,_ Is that true?_ He sent Patrice who he knew was eavesdropping.

The man sent back in surprise, _I knew he was stopping in all week. It's the first I've heard of a message. Eck. That son of mine! I left him in charge this month as a trial run. Ash, I'm sorry, if I had known your friend had been in need of you, I would have sent word right away._

Ash realized that Bravo was still talking, which was unusual. The man usually had a sixth sense about when people were speaking telepathically. He waved his gun, "I thought I'd sit and wait them out today." He pointed at the mostly empty bottle, "And Cici, she offered me a drink. I figured today needed a drink." Bravo grinned, holding up his glass, "Why not, right?" and drank it down before pouring some more.

The god could see why the hitman never drank. It didn't seem to interfere with his aim (yet), but he was nowhere near as focused when drunk. In fact, he was beginning to seriously wonder if this was the first time the man had ever truly been drunk. "Alright. Well. You found me. Now be a good boy and tell me why you were looking for me?" Ask thought about it for a second, "But first, give me your gun, ok?"

Hitman looked at his gun. He seemed mildly surprised that he was still holding it. Then he looked at Ash with some of the best puppy-dog eyes the man had ever seen on a killer, and that was saying something. Finally, with a sigh, the spiky-haired man expertly unloaded the gun, pulling the clip, and handing both to the taller man with a pout.

"There now, that wasn't so hard, now was it? I'd ask for your other guns but that would be just cruel." He mused, "So I'll pretend I don't know you have three other guns, and you'll not touch them..." He was outright shocked when the man rapidly pulled out four guns, removing the clips and handing them all to him. When he opened his mouth Bravo held up a finger and with a grin, pulled a switchblade out of his Fedora and handed that over as well. The level of trust involved flabbergasted Ash. This was a man who from boyhood had been taught that the world was a dangerous place, and to trust no one. His training would make even some of the Dark-Hunter's cringe, and yet he was turning over most of, if not all, of his weapons. Not that Bravo wasn't deadly at hand to hand, but still. Something was seriously off with the hitman. "Wow. You _are_ a happy drunk, aren't you?" Bravo continued to snicker into his glass, apparently finding his friend's reaction exceedingly funny for some reason. "Alright, chuckles, what gives?"

The other tugged lightly on his curly sideburn, "Colonnello proposed to Lal Mirch, you know. Asked me to be the best man, the bastard."

Ash grinned, now he could easily see his friend getting drunk over that. "Oh? When is the wedding?" He pulled a glass and bottle over to himself, pouring himself a celebratory drink. He'd have to make sure he was free. For the first time since Archeron had arrived, Bravo frowned, all humor fleeing his face. Ash felt his heart drop, "What, what is it? What's wrong?"

"There isn't going to be a wedding." Bravo shrugged, taking a drink. He sighed and seemed to change the topic, "Hey, Ash. Being the best really stinks, you know? Being the best of the best? The only good part is looking out for others." He ground his teeth, "It really pisses me off."

The Atlantean God forced the other to look at him. He stared deep into eyes that were filled with a dark humor and so much pain. "What happened?"

"Arcobaleno."

"Oh Gods." Arcobaleno, one of those random weird curses that doomed a select few special souls for the preservation of the masses. The side-effects were a mixed bag, eternal youth for six out of seven, but it was an extreme youth. Ash couldn't imagine being forced to live as a toddler for decades upon decades while having the mind of an adult. Bets were being made by the gods on how long it would take a person to go mad under those conditions. The sevenths lifespan would be only a fraction of what it could have been. Ash didn't know if that was better or worse. He'd heard it was going to be implemented again, but he had had no idea how soon. "Which one, Colonnello or Lal?"

"Lal."

"Damn. I think I need a stronger drink." he muttered, reaching into his bag and conjuring himself a bottle. It tended to make the man nervous when Ash did something like that right in front of him.

"You?" The other snorted, "You can't get drunk, remember?"

"I'm going to try."Ash growled in aggravation as he poured a large glass of ouzo for himself and a slightly smaller one for his impromptu drinking buddy. If nothing else, he could help get his friend good and wasted. "Anyone else I know? I assume you know."

"Hey, aren't you a God or something? Shouldn't you, I don't know, _know_ this already or something?"

"I told you before, it doesn't work like that."

"That's just stupid." Bravo's humor seemed to return as he smirked at Archeron, taking the proffered drink. "But I'll tell you anyway, cause then you can _act_ like you knew the whole time." he smirked, seemingly proud of this.

Ash smiled thinly, "Thanks."

"No problem. What are friends for." The hitman took a drink and grimaced, " I'd show you pictures, too, but it wouldn't do you any good after tomorrow anyway." He chuckled again, apparently finding that funny, "There's Lal, of course. She's to be rain. You remember Fon, that Chinese guy with the 'really killer bad breath'? He's got picked for storm. That idiot Skull, the stunts-man with a death-wish? You told me you had to rescue him one time from a group of Appolites, well, he's going to be Cloud." He paused, drinking some more, "I don't know if you know the others. Verde's a scientist, he's been called the Da Vinci's Reincarnation, he's that good. Verde's going to be lightning. Viper's a psychic, but not one of those fakes. He's telepathic, and the Vongola have hired him to locate people as well. He'll be Mist. The Sun Arcobaleno is going to be Luce. She's the current boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia...she's pregnant."

"There was no one else to take the spot?"

"More like she wouldn't _let_ anyone else take it." Ash looked at the man, eyebrow raised, "No, really, you don't argue with Luce. She just _smiles_ at you until she gets her way. It's evil."

_Ah. He likes her._ Ash thought. That was going to make things hard when she was turned. Being the bearer of the sun, Luce wouldn't live long in comparison to the other's. He almost wished she was one of the other six, even if it would extend the obviously budding relationship just a little bit. "Wait. That's only six. Who's the seventh? There's always seven."

"If you're collecting the strongest and the best, who do you think is going to be at the top of that list, barring all you petra-natural types?" Ash stared at the man, feeling numb. He knew he should have expected this. The fedora covering his eyes, the hitman chucked into his glass. It was a heartbreaking sound for the leader of the Dark-Hunters. It would have almost been better, he thought, if the other would cry, or rage, or even curse. "I'm glad I got in touch with you, though. I was worried I you wouldn't find out until after..." he paused, "I think. I think I'm going to go away for a while. Take a break." A grin, "Kinda hard to hold a Cz75 when you've got tiny hands, right? Maybe I'll get a hobby or something." He sighed, "Damn, I love these guns,too."

"Who's idea was it?"

"For the Arcobaleno? It came from this guy we've all gotten jobs from before. Don't really know much more then that."

"How long." He ground his teeth, "How long have you known?"

"I've suspected for the last year that something was up. The eighth, well, I'm not her favorite hitman. It was odd that she was fine with me taking jobs from this guy. I've known for sure for a couple of months."

He'd known that the current Vongola boss was wary of the very talented young hitman. Bravo was quite possibly the best at what he did, and yet didn't seem very ambitious. He was generally well liked by others, too, most notable was her son, Timoteo. She just couldn't seem to understand that for the strongest hitman protecting the family was more important than any rank. "That Bitch."

"Don't worry about it. Better me than, well, anyone I'd use as an example is going to be there. Except for Colonello. Of course, you know he's probably gonna do something to screw it all up tomorrow. We might just all die, or the world could end...got any more of that drain cleaner you call alcohol?"

"Yeah." The ancient warrior pored another shoot, starting the farewell party for two, "Did I ever tell you about the time Talon literally fell into a demon summoning in Wales?" To the raised eyebrow he continued, spinning a tale that was mostly truth and only slightly exaggerated. He went from one tale to another, well into the night until Bravo finally fell asleep. After talking with the lions, they all agreed to let him sleep it off there. Ash popped back to New Orleans with the olives and some good wine while his friend slept. When he returned an hour later, Bravo Hitman was gone.

Where he had sat a note was held down by a bottle currently being scaled by his chameleon, leaving Ash to wonder how drunk the man had actually been.

_Chaos,_

_Sorry I let myself out. I don't like goodbyes. It's likely I won't be able to get away from you for long even if I tried anyway. Work on your aim, you still cut to the left when you pull the trigger. Don't try and find me, the location is top secret. I'll see you in a few years I'm sure. That is, if Colonnello doesn't fuck it up and kill us all._

_~Bravo Hitman_

_P.s. Oh, could you find a home good for Pete? I can't take him where I am going._

**_*&*&*BREAK_****_*&*&*_**

When the newly formed Arcobaleno returned to the cabin on the mountain side to gather their things, all but Reborn were shocked to see a group of animals waiting for them. On the table there was a note.

_Wasn't that hard to find you guys, you know. Just had to look for a spot the screamed POWERFUL STUFF HAPPENING HERE. Found Pete a nice home with a Squire family. He'll be happy. But life on the road gets lonely without a partner, so I did some research. Before you ask, yes, it does work like that. I'm betting Colonnello will stop Lal if he doesn't get you all killed, so I got him a bird. These guys will live as long as you do, and each have special abilities. Figure them out for yourselves. Think of it as a hobby. See you in a few years, I'm sure._

_~Archeron_


	4. WarGod's Recruits

**Kitsune here, this chapter is what started the whole thing. Actually, I was working on "Truth Bites" and thinking purple goo (if you've read the story, you'll understand that) and Ares popped into my head...but I had been watching Reborn recently, and suddenly this chapter happened. Ares and Xanxus (plus the rest of the Varia)**

** Question of the Chapter: What do you think of this new "clarification to the content policy" going on? I've been on the site since 2002, and there have been a LOT of changes in the years, like the addition of the "M" rating...and look! We can write fanfiction for what is essentially a ROMANCE SERIES! And now, suddenly, everything's got to be "PG" or "PG13?" who decides that? Got to say, I am NOT amused. **** When I was 13, I was reading stephen king and watching R movies. It's subjective, isn't it? How much citrus is too much? How much gore? What if you're writing for GANTZ or ELFIN LIED? That's what the rating system is FOR.** FF, if it's that big of a problem, REWORK THE FILTERS, enable blocks like your profanity filter for those who don't want to see it, require summaries that actually tell you about the story, don't pull a big brother on us and decide what is acceptable fanfiction and what is not. I know of at least three people who have had stories pulled that I'VE TALKED TO, and they claim no warning was given. Hearsay, I know, but it's a scary thought. I urge people to back up their stories, even if you are alright with this move. If not, sign the petition on Causes. Any of mine go "poof" (Or any of my good friends go "poof") and I'm gone. I'll post where I'm going, and that's it.

* * *

Xanxus wasn't particularly a religious man. Yes, he went to mass for every major holiday, and he tried to visit Rome at least once a year, but that was really for the old man. Some shit about a good Italian being Roman Catholic. They were the fucking mafia, for crying out loud. He sure as HELL wasn't going to confession every week.

Yet here he was walking down the street from some church on the island of Corfu on Ash Wednesday instead of doing dealing with that scummy little mob he came here to take care of like he should be. It would be just his luck he'd run into the old geezer for the first time in months TODAY if he didn't, and boy would the man gripe at him. With. That. Look. _Fucking Bullshit._ It's not fair that someone who wasn't even really his dad could make him feel like a little brat just because he didn't want to waste his time in a stinking church. Not that the old man _knew_ that he knew that. Jerk was too busy cooing over that half-breed mongrel.

Xanxus stopped at a store front, glaring at his reflection in the window, and coincidentally convincing the shopkeeper that the end was nigh. At least his men wouldn't dare laugh at him for the soot on his head. He sighed, eyes drifting upwards until he caught the reflection of the building across the street. He blinked dully, not showing his surprise as he turned around to get a better look.

It was an old building, one of those historic-restoration projects that was going on, funded in large by the Vongola. That wasn't what had caught his attention though. It was a temple, it looked decidedly early Roman, or possibly Greek, but he didn't really care. Xanxus didn't bother to hide his smirk as he sauntered over to the building. It wasn't open to the public yet, but he wasn't the public, now was he? With a derisive snort he stepped over the 'Do Not Enter' Sign. It was high time he enjoyed himself in a church, and that's all a temple was, really. A glorified church to some trashy pagan god. Really, though, he was amazed at the amount of old shit that was packed into the temple, all of it in really good repair.

"Naós tou Ári̱," Xanxus read off a plaque, looking at the relief above the words. It depicted a man with a sword and a shield, looking fierce, or what he assumed was fierce back in the stone ages. "Ares... Greek temple then. God of war. Much better god for a Mafioso to worship, don't you think?" he asked a similarly decked out statue, "A god to bathe in the blood of your enemies, not make peace with them! Bah. The ninth is going senile in his old age." his stomach rumbled, "Eh. Whatever." Without another word the young man strode out of the building and back down the street. To the casual observer nothing had changed, but to those that knew him, it was obvious Xanxus was starving and all else would have to wait...or die. He didn't notice that he was being watched.

After a while, Xanxus pulled out his cell phone and rang up Squalo, knowing that the loudmouth would be with the the phone kept ringing and ringing he ground his teeth. "VOOOI! I'm busy call back or leave a message, bastard!" The answering service kicked in.

"Ch." Xanxus glared at his phone in disgust for a full minute, fighting the urge to smash it into bits, since the phone company had informed him (quite fearfully) that they couldn't replace another cell phone this month. After getting himself only marginally calmer he tried Lussuria with much more luck.

"Elloo~" Sounds of a fight to could be heard in the background, though it most likely was the guys blowing off steam. The whole lot of them were a bunch of destructive assholes.

"It's me." He paused while Lussuria verbally bullied the others into a semblance of peace. For the seemingly nicest, most submissive of the group, very few would cross the femmy-guy. "I'm done with that thing. Right now I'm starving so I'm going to that bistro that shitty mob goes to. Maybe it'll be half as good as they say. Or maybe it'll be full of trash. Meet me there." He hung up with a grin. Either way, it was going to be an enjoyable lunch.

The bistro was actually rather impressive. It was obviously built to cater to the rich and snobby, not the tourists, being very Italian in looks as apposed to Greek. It felt a little odd, technically being in Greece and eating at an Italian bistro, but Xanxus figured he could always have Greek for dinner. After all, if things went the way he was expecting, the Varia would be done with this job by later this afternoon. The wait-staff knew better then to make the son of the Vongola leader wait, even if he _didn't_ have a reservation. He hoped his table had been reserved for that crappy little mob-boss he was supposed to take care of. It wasn't long before the others joined him.

For a bunch of ill-mannered currs, they all behaved themselves particularly well. It could have had something to do with the knowledge that their boss would kill them if they fucked with his meal more then the manners that Enrico beat into them all. (Something about not wanting to be seen in public with his little brother's friends.) So it was the the meal passed in relative silence, allowing all the patrons to fully enjoy the cuisine, which really did live up to the reputation. Even the wine was exquisite, and a house bottle. Xanxus smirked into his glass, contemplating buying the whole establishment. The Varia really needed it's own businesses, after all.

"Hey, Asshole." Of course, some piece of scum had to come and ruin his rare good mood. "Who the fuck do you think you are? Sitting at the Boss's table? Drinking the Boss's wine?" For a moment, he was confused, which he hid behind a scowl as his men tensed. Xanxus had completely forgotten why he'd come to this particular bistro.

Then he grinned, a slow, lazy grin. "Lussuria, Lavi, take this trash out."

Belphegor pouted, "Ch. What about us?"

"You and Squalo take care of the trash out back. I don't trust you not to destroy this place." Xanxus pointed out.

"Ushishishi! Ok Boss!"

"I guess I'll take care of those out front. As payment for the meal." Mamon's voice echoed as he vanished.

"As for you," Xanxus glared at the man who had dared to interrupt his meal, as the rest of his team dispersed to take care of the rabble, "Tell me where your boss is."

"Fuck you!" The man growled, lashing out, knocking the bottle of wine on the ground, shattering it.

In a flash the man found his head slammed into the table, a gun to his temple and a heavy hand holding him down by the back of his neck. Xanxus had moved so fast the man had not even seen him get up. The Varia leader snarled, looking at the spilt wine on the floor before lifting the man by the nape of the neck and slamming him back into the table, cracking it, "I'll ask you again. Where. Is. He?" He cocked his gun, "I'm losing patience."

"H-h-he's at the house! With the rest of the men!"

"Was that so hard?"

"He'll rip you to pieces, you'll see!"

Lussuria overheard this as he finished up killing a man who had taken a waitress as a hostage, something he personally found despicable, "Did you hear that Levi-chan? This little fool thinks his boss can take out the Varia."

"Va-Varia! Not the Vongola's assassination squad!" The man squealed, "Please, please, have mercy...!"

"For trash like you?" Xanxus sneered, killing the man with a twist of his wrist, "You're not even worth a bullet."

At the sound of clapping, he spun, leveling his gun at the one remaining patron in the place. Still clapping, the man slowly stood. His blue eyes danced with dark humor as the gun tracked up to aim at his head. "Well done, Xan, very cliche." The man laughed, causing all Varia members, including the ones who had just come back in to flinch. _No one_ called Xanxus anything but his full name. Not even his dad. The young man himself just studied the tall blond in front of him, apparently calm. "Mind if I join you?"

"Why?"

The stranger grinned wolfishly, "Oh you know, just looking for a bit of fun. You were talking about bathing in the blood of your enemies and all that earlier to me and I thought, 'Hey, it's been a while.' Besides, these assholes act like they own the place."

Xanxus blinked at him for a second, completely taken back. Then he returned the grin, "You're welcome to join us. But_ I'M_ in charge of the Varia, and we do this for the Vongola, got it?"

"Well, of course you're in charge. I'm just tagging along for fun. Vongola Famiglia's Varia, huh? That peon said something about you guys being an assassination squad, right? Do all Mafia assassin groups work like this? Really, you must tell me all about it." Ares went to throw an arm around Xanxus's shoulder only to find a gun right in his face. He raised an eyebrow and put his hand on his broad-sword's hilt instead.

"Later. After we take care of all the scum on this island." He knew the guys were completely confused, and for a moment he shared a look with Ares, both of them enjoying being in the know. Xanxus didn't find it odd in the slightest that the man claimed to be a god, nor did he doubt the other. He felt a certain kind of power coming off the man, similar to deathperation flames, but on a totally different level. This was a man he knew better then to fuck with. At least, not until he knew more about the god. After that, well...he grinned ferally.

The look Ares gave him said he knew exactly what he was thinking, and it amused him, "Over dinner then! I know this fabulous little tabepna. You'll love it." He then went on at great length about the place. Xanxus listened, much to the shock of his men. If they had done so, he'd have shot them dead for sure. Well, he'd at least have shot in their general direction. Instead, he let the mindless prattle fill the long minutes until they reached their destination, a rather ostentatious mansion in the center of town. "Ah, look at that. We're here already. Well. What now, general?"

Xanxus just smirked. The Varia knew the look well, even Belphegor who had only been with the group for a few weeks, and instantly got to work. Soon air was filled with the sounds of screams and gunshots. The two casually strolled in the front door on the wake of this destruction. It didn't take long to find the boss of this pathetic excuse for a Mafia family cowering behind his desk in fear as a few of his 'elite' guards attempted to protect him. As Xanxus shot the last guard before they could even react he decided that the only thing that would have disgusted the Varian leader more would have been if the man had begged for his worthless life.

"P...Please...Spare me." The man whimpered from behind the desk, soiling himself.

Ares so far had just been a silent observer, following the other around, occasionally stopping at a particularly interesting corpse to study it. It was obvious he had been enjoying watching the carnage, but now he spat, "Pathetic," from where he leaned against the door. "_This_ passes for Mafia now? That's the last time I watch _Scarface_. Jaden such a prick, he told me the real Mafia was much cooler." Xanxus glared at the war god, who put his hands up, "Oh, you guys are bad-asses. But these guys? Weenies. They wouldn't last a day in any army I ran. Pathetic." The Vongola assassin had to agree with him, even if he did find himself mildly insulted by the words.

He put away his gun, deciding to finish off the piece of trash with a Flame of Wrath, thoroughly killing the man with extreme prejudice. As the wall overlooking what he assumed had once been a garden before Levi had gotten outside collapsed completely he spun on his heel and walked back out of the room. Xanxus had to admit to himself, he was quite pleased with the look of slight shock on the god's face, a look that was quickly covered by a cocky grin as the man followed him. His men were waiting for him by the front door, as expected. They were the best, after all, and he didn't pay them to be slow or sloppy. All of them left off harassing the group sent to fix things and instead stared intently at the blond who was still contently following Xanxus, now suggesting 'future play-dates' as the group left what remained of the once impressive mansion for the official clean up crew to take care of.

"VOOOI! XANXUS! WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY?" Squalo shouted as soon as they were out of sight of the building. The rest of the group came to a stop, obviously curious as well. Ares kept walking, cocky grin still on his face.

Xanxus paused for a second. He'd been wondering how long it would take for them to finally crack and ask. He smirked at them as he followed after the man in question, "God of war."

"Eh? Mars?" Mammon wondered.

"Mars is Roman, I'm Greek, thank you very much. Ares, at your service." The blond god happily pointed out, coming to a stop and doing a mock salute, "You know, for a Catholic, your boss'd make a good Spartan general."

There was a few seconds of dead silence. "EAHHHHH?"


End file.
